The Old Friend
by Mikus Proud
Summary: Hermione is feeling good about how her relationship with Sirius is going. That is until an old friend of his comes for a visit and unintentionally creates a speed bump for the happy couple. A muggle-AU one-shot and the third in a series that began with The Blind Date.


**A/N: **This is another follow-up to my other muggle-AU Sirimione one-shots, The Blind Date and The Mistletoe Tell. I really love writing this series, and I am already planning on the next work!

**Disclaimer:** I wish I could live in this world, but I unfortunately don't own any of it.

* * *

**The Old Friend**

Hermione turned the key in the lock, humming the song she had just heard on the radio in the car on the drive over to Sirius' flat. She kicked the door closed behind her and tossed the small pile of mail down on the foyer table, dropping her keys and purse down next to it.

Making her way to the kitchen, she reached under the sink to pull out the small watering can and began to fill it. Once full, she flicked the lever off and turned to make her way into the sitting room to water the small ferns she had made Sirius buy to soften up his rather masculine living space.

As soon as she turned, she couldn't help the startled shriek that escaped her lips. The full watering can nearly fell from her suddenly numb fingers as she stared, opened mouth, at the equally startled and clearly sleep rumpled man standing in the middle of Sirius' sitting room.

She quickly discarded the watering can on the edge of the counter, sloshing water all over the smooth granite finish, and grabbed the first thing within reaching distance that could possibly be used as a weapon-the cutting board. Perhaps not the best weapon choice, Hermione thought briefly, but desperate times.

The strange man immediately held his hands up in an obvious sign of surrender upon seeing her swing the heavy wooden cutting board up to her shoulder like a bat. His startled face looked alarmed now.

"Who are you?!" Hermione demanded, realizing with chagrin her cell phone was still in her purse in the foyer. Gods, what if this man became violent? She would have no way to call for help.

"You must be Hermione," the man said, deep voice calm and steady. The words cut across her panicked brain sharply. How did he know who she was?

"I didn't ask who I was!" Hermione practically shrieked, in sharp contrast to the calm tones of the man.

His hands came up further in supplication, "Sorry. My name is Remus. An old friend of Sirius."

Her vice like grip on the cutting board loosened fractionally, but she still kept in the position. She had heard a lot about Remus, from both Sirius and James, but had never met him. She had seen a picture or two though, and she supposed this man could be the same one. Older than she remembered him looking, with more gray in his sandy blond hair and lines around his eyes. But she didn't trust her memory of a few brief glances of pictures she hadn't seen in years.

"How did you get in here? Sirius isn't home," Hermione was pleased to hear her voice was much less shrieky this time.

Remus looked abashed, "I, ummm... Well, I picked the lock "

"You broke in?!" The shrieking was back.

"No! Well, yes, technically. But I had permission!"

"Permission?! Sirius would have told me if he was expecting you!" Hermione took a deep breathe to try and calm down.

"Well, permission in a general sense. Like Sirius told me I was always free to crash with him when I was in town," the man claiming to be Remus dropped his arms to his sides, "He didn't know I was coming this time, and I didn't realize he wouldn't be here. But I had just gotten off an almost twenty-hour flight, and I just needed to sleep. So, I picked the lock when no one answered and fell asleep on the sofa until you walked in."

"How can I know you're telling the truth?" Hermione's grip tightened on the cutting board again as he reached down to the coffee table, but she soon realized he was just reaching for his phone.

"Why don't we call him? He can vouch for me," he looked to her for permission, and she nodded shortly. He quickly had the phone ringing on speaker, holding it out so she could hear as well.

She relaxed and dropped the cutting board down in front of her when she heard Sirius' voice after the second ring. "Remus! It's been too long, old man! What's going on?"

"Well, I'm in a bit of a situation I was hoping you could help me out of," Remus replied.

Sirius' voice sounded concerned when he responded, "You know I will, if I can. What's wrong?"

"I'm in London. It was a last-minute trip, and I let myself into your flat last night when I got in. I wasn't expecting company though."

There was a pause before Sirius said slowly, "I see. Is she there with you now?"

"Yes, you're on speaker."

"Hermione? Love, contrary to what you may think at this moment, Remus is perfectly respectable, and you are in no danger from him. Are you ok?"

"Yes," Hermione squeaked, and then grimace, clearing her throat, "I just don't know what I was to think finding a strange man in the middle of your flat!"

Sirius chuckled, "I'm sure he gave you a fright, but I promise you have nothing to worry about."

"If you say so," Hermione said, dropping the cutting board back on the counter with a clatter.

"I do say so. Remus, how long are you in town for? I'm in Paris for a conference for two more days."

"A week at least. Do you mind me utilizing your sofa?" Remus questioned. He had visibly relaxed with the cutting board back on the counter.

"No, of course you're welcome to stay. Hermione, I'll call you later. I'm sorry for the mix-up."

"It's fine," she said, though feeling like it had been anything but, "I'll talk to you later."

After Remus had hung up the phone, Hermione wasn't sure what to do. She turned and grabbed the dish towel, sopping up the water she had spilled before picking up the watering can again. She turned back towards the sitting room to find that Remus hadn't moved and was staring at her.

"I'll just water the plants and get out of your hair," she said quickly, slipping past him to the window sill the ferns sat on.

"You don't have to rush off," Remus said behind her.

"I don't wish to disturb you," she hedged, fidgeting with the plant far more than necessary. Now that she knew who he was and the fear induce adrenaline had drained from her system, she felt very uncomfortable with this man.

"Sirius has told me a lot about you," he continued, ignoring her words and evidently oblivious to her discomfort, "Raves about you actually. We haven't spoken in a couple months, but the last time we were on the line, I could barely get a word in."

Despite herself, Hermione smiled at the words. Her nearly eight-month relationship with Sirius had been going exceedingly well.

"Harry set you up, hmm?" Remus asked.

Hermione turned to face him after the last plant had been taken care of, "Yes, he did. On a blind date."

Remus smiled at her, and her cheeks warmed. He was quite handsome in a scatterbrained professor kind of way. Which he was. A professor that is, not scatterbrained. Not that she would know if he was scatterbrained.

"I met you once," he said, "though I doubt you remember."

Hermione furrowed her brow. She definitely did not remember that.

"It was at Harry's thirteenth birthday party. I was in town that weekend, so James insisted I come celebrate. I definitely remember you. All knobby knees and bushy hair. You seemed to be a bossy little thing."

Hermione cheeks warmed again, but in anger this time, "Now see here!" She began but cut off at Remus' hearty laugh.

"There it is," he said, causing her to raise her eyebrows in question, "Sirius said you were quite the firecracker. He wasn't exaggerating."

Hermione huffed in annoyance, though her anger had faded, "Well, perhaps I was a bit of a bossy swot. But I like to think I've grown out of that tendency."

Remus shrugged with another smile, "I never said it was a bad thing. I'm not sure Harry would have made it to adulthood without you there to boss him about. He definitely wouldn't have made as good of marks."

Hermione laughed at that, "I'll not deny that. He was always rubbish at keeping organized, though he was smart enough."

Remus chuckled with a nod. They suddenly seemed to lose their previous stream of conversation, so she made her way back to the kitchen to put away the watering can.

"So, since you're here, do you mind watering the plants and picking up the post?" she questioned.

"Of course," Remus responded, following her into the foyer.

"Umm, well, I guess I'll probably see you again once Sirius is back home."

He was eyeing her rather speculatively, but he just smiled with a nod of his head as she slipped out into the hallway.

* * *

"Hello?" She snapped, pushing her sweaty curls away from her face. She had been attempting to get her wayward cat, Crookshanks, to come down from the hole in the back of her bedroom closet that he had seemed to wedge himself into. She had answered on the third ring, not bothering to look at who was calling.

"Hello to you too," Sirius' amused voice answered back, "Have I done something to offend you?"

Hermione huffed, glaring at the dark corner of the closet, "No, Crookshanks is being difficult. And I can't tell if he is truly stuck or just being ornery."

He chuckled, "I'm quite certain I don't want to know what that means."

"That's probably for the best. Are you home?"

"Just got off the plane. I'm meeting up with Remus, James, and Lily tonight for dinner. I was hoping you would join us."

She couldn't help the twinge of hurt she felt at his words. He had been gone for more than a week. She had been looking forward to spending the evening alone with him.

"I don't know," she hedged, "Wouldn't you rather catch up without me there?

"I guess we could," Sirius said slowly, disappointment in his tone.

She sighed. Truth be told, though her relationship with Sirius had been progressing rather well, and she was crazy about him, her relationship with his best friends had been a bit awkward for her.

Growing up, James and Lily had been her best friend's parents. Almost like her own parents in many ways. She had spent almost as much time at Harry's house as her own during her teenage years. And she loved James and Lily dearly. As parents.

But now they were no longer operating in her life as parents. They were her boyfriend's (Partner? Lover? Significant other?) best and oldest friends. He and James had been like siblings growing up, a relationship she had with James' son.

Hermione knew they approved of her and Sirius together as a couple. Or at least they didn't disapprove, though she would be shocked to find out they didn't think the situation was any less awkward then she did.

And the problem was she couldn't avoid it. They were best friends, and they saw each other regularly. She always felt like the odd one out, even when it was just the four of them. And though she never felt the twenty year age gap between them when she was with Sirius alone, she always felt reduced to feeling like the eleven year old girl she had been when she first met James and Lily.

And nothing had been more horrifying then the first time Sirius had alluded to something about their sex life to James. They had been talking together at Sirius' flat a couple months prior in the sitting room. Lily had gone to the restroom and Hermione had gone into the kitchen to refill drinks. She hadn't been paying attention until her ears had pick-up on the innuendo Sirius had made. It hadn't been anything overt or descriptive, he hadn't even said her name. She imagined that it was probably the sort of thing most guys would say about their girlfriend to their best friend. But by the time she had worked up the courage to walk back into the sitting room with the drinks, Sirius' brow was furrowed, James' face was beet red, and the room felt ten degrees cooler than it had when she had left. She had never admitted to Sirius as to having overheard that, but she had noticed that he had been very careful with his words around James and Lily since.

And now add Remus in the mix. He was a completely unknown quantity. She knew he had been close to the group of friends when they were growing up but had gotten involved with a teaching program in third world countries when they had all graduated from university. Since then, he had been travelling the world and only stopping in England during whatever short respites he took.

She was not a very social person, and had a hard time assimilating into situations where strangers were present. But if Sirius really wanted her to come, then she would suck it up. She had missed him desperately and didn't want to wait another day to see him.

After getting the information on the time and place to meet them, she hung up, suddenly feeling like she had made a terrible mistake.

* * *

He lit up when he saw her. She was the last to arrive, though she was right on time. When he leaned down to kiss her lips, she reveled in the feeling, ignoring the discomfort she usually felt when he kissed her in front of James and Lily. When he pulled away, he winked at her when he noticed her blushed tinged checks. She received hugs from his friends, including Remus. He hadn't even hesitated, which she thought was probably a good thing. She would have just stood there and made their greeting weird.

When they sat down at the table Remus told the group about meeting Hermione a few days prior, a story that has her blushing madly and the rest of the group laughing.

"What did you plan on doing with the cutting board, Hermione?" James asked her with a grin.

"Bludgeon him, obviously," Sirius replied for her. She elbowed him in the ribs, but he just laughed.

"Honestly, I don't doubt she would have if the need had arisen. She was entirely prepared to take me down. It was quite impressive," Remus smiled at her, and rather than feeling like the little girl she normally felt like in these situations, she actually felt like he meant it. That he had actually found her impressive.

"Yes, she's always been quite the feisty one, even when she was a little girl," Lily supplied.

Well, so much for feeling like an adult.

"I for one am glad to hear I have such a warrior by my side. Makes me quite the lucky one."

Sirius' words made Hermione's heart soar, and she ducked her head to hide her embarrassment. When she finally looked up, everyone was looking at her with rather wistful smiles on their faces. They were interrupted by the waiter, and Hermione had been very relieved to have attention diverted from her.

* * *

Hermione had actually been enjoying the evening. Remus had been dominating the conversation, taking about his travels and everything he had seen and experienced. It was really quite fascinating. But then things took a turn to awkward again.

"And there is still no one in your life? Have you ever had a steady relationship, Remus?" Lily had asked while they were waiting for dessert.

"You know me, Lil," Remus said, spreading out his hands, "I'm too much of a wanderer to ever settle down."

"Yes, but you love kids! I would have thought you may have been drawn to settling down just to have children."

Remus shrugged, "I love other people's kids. I've never felt the need to have my own."

Hermione's thoughts shift focused as she felt Sirius stiffen beside her. Sending him a questioning glance, he shot her a reassuring smile.

"And anyway, I'm getting too old to think about starting a family. If I had children now, I'd be in my seventies by the time they're Harry's age."

Awkward silence fell at Remus' words. Hermione's cheeks burned again in sudden embarrassment as all eyes turned to her and Sirius.

Sirius stiffened again beside her and then shifted in his seat. She didn't know if it was her imagination or if he had moved away from her slightly.

"Sorry," Remus said, obviously trying to backtrack from his words, "I didn't mean-"

"Don't worry about it," Sirius cut him off, normally raspy voice sounding hoarse.

"Here's dessert!" James exclaimed loudly into the silence that had fallen again. When the waiter put the cheesecake slice in front of her, she couldn't do more than pick at it, disturbed by the sudden bought of brooding Sirius was having next to her.

* * *

Remus left town a few days later. She hadn't seen him again, and Sirius hadn't quite seemed to be himself since the dinner they had gone to. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking, but he obviously wasn't in the mood to talk about it with her.

Two weeks passed before Hermione decided to broach the subject with Sirius. He had made a good show of trying to act normal, but by this point in their relationship, she knew him too well to be fooled.

She had been spending more and more time at his place over the previous month, even after the dinner incident. One night they were relaxing on his sofa. He was leaning back, his feet thrown casually on the coffee table, watching some detective show while she leaned back up against him, flipping through magazine, not really seeing what was in front of her.

He had been quiet tonight again. It was driving her crazy, and suddenly she just had to know what he was thinking.

"Sirius, you have been...off...since that dinner with Remus. Will you tell me what's bothering you?"

She felt him stiffen again, the same way he had at the restaurant. Then he sighed and flicked off the tv. She sat up to look at him and was surprised to see him looking embarrassed. Not a look he normally sported.

"It's nothing, really. I just... It just made me think about some things I hadn't considered before."

"Things like having children," she stated.

"Among other things."

"And have you come to any conclusions?" She asked, knot of fear settling in her stomach in worry over his reply.

He sighed again and ran his hands through his hair in another uncharacteristic gesture. The knot grew, and she suddenly couldn't let him continue, "Sirius, it's not that big of a deal if you don't want kids. I-I don't know myself if I even want them, I hadn't really even thought about it myself until that night."

"You shouldn't have to do that, Hermione. You're so young, and even if you don't want them now, what about in five years, or ten? What if you change your mind, and I'm almost sixty? I just...I don't know if this is a good idea anymore."

"What?! No, Sirius, don't say that!" He looked at her, something akin to regret in his eyes, and her heart seized up, tears springing into her eyes, "God, Sirius, please, we don't have to make any decisions right now. I shouldn't have even brought it up."

He lifted his hand to wipe the tears from her cheek with his thumb, "It used to make me feel young, being with you. I've always had more than my fair share of ego and being with someone twenty years my junior had a very positive impact of my self-confidence. But the last couple weeks I've just felt so old."

"You're not old! I don't think that of you at all! No one has ever made me feel the way you do. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose you!"

He smiled then, leaning in to kiss her gently on the forehead. Her heart broke at the simple gesture, and she tried one last plea, "Please Sirius, I love you."

He studied her tear streaked face for several moments before standing up, "I'll be right back."

He left her sitting there staring dumbfounded at the empty space he had just occupied. When he reappeared moments later, he sank to his knees before her and nothing prepared her for his next words.

"Perhaps I'm too selfish by half. You are far too young for me and far too good. But I needed to know for sure how you felt. Had you reacted differently than you did, this evening would be ending much differently. But I'm not a good enough man to let you go now."

Her breath hitched, and her eyes sprang with new tears when he produced a small black box. He continued, "I want you to know I bought this more than a month ago. But I thought it was too soon, even though I felt ready. I didn't want to scare you off.

And I have been off, as you said, since that conversation at dinner. But not for the reason you think. It really brought our age difference to light, and I've been worried that perhaps it would suddenly make you realize the impact it would have on your life. Because it's true. I would be an older father. But... I don't care. I want to be with you. I want to have children with you. I'd have a dozen with you, if that's what you wanted. But please say you don't want a dozen."

That startled a laugh out of her. He wiped the tears from her cheeks again.

"I know things aren't perfect. I know you struggle being with James and Lily, but the fact that you try so hard to hide it for my sake makes me love you more. And I just can't be without you."

He opened the box to show her the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen. It was perfect, something she could have easily picked out herself. Her eyes flew to his, and he gave her his sexy smile that always made her weak in the knees, "So, what do you think? Want to make a go of it? Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes," she breathed without hesitation. His smirk turned to a grin and she laughed, throwing her arms around his neck. The she whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, I don't want a dozen."

The rumble of his laugh made he grin, and she pulled back to allow him to slip the ring on her finger. "It's beautiful," she said.

"Lily helped me pick it out."

She started in surprise at his words. He continued, "I know you three have some work to do, but they really are supportive of our relationship. I wanted a woman's opinion, and I figured she would be the best one to ask."

"And did you ask my father's blessing?" She joked, already knowing the answer. Her father was less than thrilled with their relationship, though he had never interfered. And she was pretty sure it didn't help that her mother clearly had a bit of a crush on Sirius and giggled like a school girl when they came around to visit. But she knew Sirius would win him over in the long run.

She smiled at Sirius' pink tinged cheeks, "Umm, no. I figured it would be easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

"I think that was probably a wise decision," she agreed.

She pulled him up onto the couch next to her, kissing him deeply. When they pulled apart, he rested his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes.

"I love you," she whispered.

"And I love you. Always."


End file.
